


not quite an item (they’re totally fucking right?)

by jadore_hale



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe Youtube, Fake Online Boyfriends, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Friends to Lovers, Frottage, Insecure Stiles Stilinski, M/M, Past Danny Mahealani/Stiles Stilinski, YouTuber Derek Hale, YouTuber Stiles Stilinski, boyd is dead, break ups, minor hurt/comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-21
Updated: 2018-06-21
Packaged: 2019-05-18 02:22:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14843789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jadore_hale/pseuds/jadore_hale
Summary: “I never liked him,” Derek said plainly.“Dude!” Stiles punched him in the shoulder, shocked. It was his first time hearing this.“He was keeping you from me! Must’ve been really insecure to stop you from collabing with me. Which is stupid. What’s there to be jealous of? All we are is online boyfriends.”“Who sometimes make out and swallow each other’s chewed food,” Stiles shot back, not sure how Derek could have forgotten those key facts.“It’s just for views!”





	not quite an item (they’re totally fucking right?)

**Author's Note:**

> The moderator for this fest is fricken kick ass and awesome. This was a lot of fun to write!
> 
> Based off of the [TRACK](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxqIB58rQZ7AtoebwIgzCyg) youtube channel.
> 
> Thank you to my beta [ Xandra ](http://dontgostakinmyheart.tumblr.com)

Stiles was tired— not just the regular kind of tired. There was a deep exhaustion seeped within his bones that he couldn’t shake. If he wanted, he could probably chalk it up to the fact that he stayed up way too late editing his vlogs for his YouTube channel. Or that he’d been cooped up in an airplane for the last five hours on a flight from New York to California. But, those excuses were too flimsy and too thin. He could only ride out this denial for so long.

All day, he’d been trying to keep the negative thoughts away. He was excited to see Derek. He really was. And it was so sunny in California whereas in New York they were still getting pounded by Nor’easters. So, Stiles had absolutely no reason to be so tired and so sad, and still…

The elevator stopped and the doors opened. Stiles stepped out, dragging his luggage behind him. Derek had moved since the last time Stiles had visited which, now that Stiles thought about it, was 18 months ago. When Derek had told Stiles about the move, he’d cited that his old apartment was just too small. Which Stiles found hilarious seeing as Derek’s interior design style was so sparse, you’d think he was just moving in.

Stiles glanced at the text message Derek had sent him, telling Stiles that he’d be in the shower when he arrived and passing on a set of numbers that were supposedly the key code for the fancy smart door lock. Stiles punched the code in easily enough and slid the door open, poking his head inside with a chipper but weak smile on his face.

“You know, I’m totally the wrong person to give this security code to!” Stiles shouted, hopefully, loud enough for Derek to hear from the bathroom. “How do you know I’m not going to tweet it out or something? I’m sure your millions of followers would certainly get a kick out of that!”

He slid the front door closed again, moving deeper into the loft. It was a very nice loft but also very empty. Every step Stiles took had an echo. But, it was way more furniture than Stiles would’ve thought for Derek and that was something to be admired. He let go of his suitcases to continue his tour into the kitchen when a figure jumped out at him from behind the wall.

“BOO!”

“AH!!” Stiles screamed, actually shooting up into the air. He took one look at Derek’s big, mischievous grin and then at the phone in his hand and cried, “Oh, you fucking asshole! You better not have been recording that!”

“Hey, baby,” Derek smiled widely and pulled Stiles into his arms, picking him up and squeezing the life out of him.

“You are deleting that, right now!” Stiles demanded, twisting and squirming but to no avail. The video was already up on Snapchat and the Sterek fans were freaking the fuck out. “Jesus,” Stiles cursed in amazement. “How are they so fast?”

Derek chuckled and stuck the phone back in his pocket, shifting Stiles’ weight so that he was forced to wrap his legs around Derek’s waist. It seemed like he wasn’t going to let Stiles go, never mind putting him down. Stiles didn’t have too much of a problem with that. Who wouldn’t want to be in Derek’s arms?

“Wow, you’re still so strong,” Stiles marveled, looping his arms around Derek’s neck.

“I know.”

“And handsome,” Stiles breathed, eyes raking over Derek’s gorgeously chiseled face.

“I know.”

Stiles scowled, “Well, aren’t you going to compliment me back, you conceited fuck?”

Derek laughed then and rested his forehead against Stiles’, bumping their noses together. “I missed you too, Stiles. It’s been 800 years. Can’t wait ‘til you move back out to L.A.”

“Yeah, I guess it has been a while.” Stiles sighed, feeling a small sliver of guilt. “I’ve been, you know, going through some things.”

“Oh,” Derek’s bright smile fell as he placed Stiles back on the ground. “I’m really sorry about that Danny guy. I know you were hoping it would work out.”

“Eh,” Stiles shrugged, “I’ve been through my fair share of bad breakups. I’ll survive this one, too.” Though, he didn’t say the “Maybe.”

The breakup happened out of nowhere. Stiles had thought things with Danny were going pretty well. He wasn’t thinking marriage or anything, but ‘I love you’s’ had been exchanged. They met each other’s families. They moved in together. Only good things happened in the year and a half that they’d been together, which was why Stiles was blindsided when Danny decided to end things.

 _“It doesn’t feel right. There’s something missing. I think you know that, too,”_ he’d said.

More than anything, Stiles wished he could have pretended not to know what Danny was talking about. But Danny was right. Their hearts just weren’t in it. He held no hard feelings towards Danny. The painful part of this breakup had nothing to do with him. It wasn’t his fault that Stiles was completely unlovable.

“I never liked him,” Derek said plainly.

“Dude!” Stiles punched him in the shoulder, shocked. It was his first time hearing this.

“He was keeping you from me! Must’ve been really insecure to stop you from collabing with me. Which is stupid. What’s there to be jealous of? All we are is online boyfriends.”

“Who sometimes make out and swallow each other’s chewed food,” Stiles shot back, not sure how Derek could have forgotten those key facts.

“It’s just for views!”

Ah yes, the Sterek channel. One of the most popular channels on the YouTube platform. With over 10 million subscribers and a crazed social media following, Stiles and Derek were well-known for being a couple. The only thing was that they weren’t actually a couple.

Their audience knew this, of course. It was the gimmick that reeled them all in. Viewers tuned in every week to figure out how two friends could be doing what they were doing and not secretly be in a relationship or having sex. Even though they ended every video with a disclaimer, reminding people that they were just friends, it didn’t stop anyone from wanting their relationship to be real. Least of all, Stiles.

For Stiles, it would always be Derek. He was everything Stiles wanted in a boyfriend and they worked so well together, which was probably why their channel was such a massive success. They’d met on Twitter. Fans of their individual channels started shipping them even before they’d ever met or spoken. So, out of curiosity, Derek slid into Stiles’ DMs and the rest was history.

He’d always wanted things with Derek to go the romantic route, but the timing was never right. So, he pushed himself to move on with Danny and it had worked. He and Derek drifted apart, and that Sterek channel, the one with 10 million subscribers and a crazed social media following, hadn’t updated in 18 months.

“Danny never asked me to stop making Sterek videos.” Stiles sighed, shaking his head. “I just thought, with us being in a serious relationship, it was the respectful thing to do.”

Being that he was kind of in love with Derek, Stiles knew he couldn’t keep hanging out with him and be with Danny at the same time. So, he’d made the move to New York to be with Danny and made him a priority. But, maybe he prioritized Danny a little too much. So much so that he’d stopped talking to Derek, Lydia, Scott, and all of his other YouTuber friends. He’d already fixed things with Scott and Lydia, but he and Derek had a lot of catching up to do, and he worried that neglecting Derek would have lasting damage to their friendship.

“And what about you, Mr. Bachelor Pad?” Stiles chuckled, switching gears to a different topic. “What happened to that girlfriend you were living with? You know, the one with the tits.”

“Who, Kate?” Derek snorted. “We broke up months ago. I’ve learned that it’s a really terrible decision to move in with a girl you’ve only dated for 2 weeks. Turned out that she was a bi-phobic bigot. She saw one of our videos and got paranoid that I’d jump every male waiter I saw.”

“Gross.” Stiles grimaced. “I’m sorry you had to go through that. That’s seriously fucked up. Guess I didn’t know about it because you haven’t made an expose video reading her to filth. At least, not yet.”

“Not all of my videos are about exposing people and talking about my love life.” Derek leveled him with a flat look. Though, he changed tunes when he saw the unconvinced look on Stiles’ face. “Okay, a lot of my videos are about exposing people and talking about my love life. But I posted a video just yesterday of how to get a sharper jawline without surgery!”

“Wow, such riveting content,” Stiles yawned.

“You’re tired,” Derek stated, peering at him closely.

“Just a bit.”

“Well, go ahead and go take a nap in my bed.”

“Oh no, dude,” Stiles protested. “I won’t put you out. The couch is fine for me.”

“Don’t be an idiot. My bed’s still big enough for the both of us. We used to cuddle all the time before you got with that Danny guy,” Derek grumbled bitterly.

Before he could open his mouth and argue, Derek was picking him up and throwing him over his shoulder. It was a dangerous march up the spiral staircase to the upper part of the loft. Stiles thought Derek was going to lose his grip and drop him on his head the whole time. But, they made it safely and Derek plopped him down on the bed, getting him all nice and cozy under the covers.

“Do you think it’ll be weird starting up Sterek videos again after so long?” Stiles asked when he felt Derek settling under the covers next to him.

“Nah,” Derek said, slinging an arm over Stiles’ torso. “Our chemistry is undeniable. It’ll be like no time’s past at all.”

“Maybe,” Stiles murmured, his mind running over with thoughts. “I just don’t have the same energy I used to. I won’t be as fun.”

“That’s okay,” Derek whispered, moving closer.

His presence had a reassuring effect on Stiles and for once, he actually felt like he could just be honest.

“Hey, Derek,” Stiles mumbled, closing his eyes.

“Yeah?”

“I’m really, really, really sad,” he said, trying and failing miserably to fight back the tears.

He hadn’t cried about anything yet. Had said he wasn’t going to let himself. But now he couldn’t help it. He just sobbed and sobbed his freaking eyes out.

All the while Derek was there, hushing him and holding him tight. “It’s going to be okay, Stiles. We’ll get you through this, I promise.”

There was something about the way Derek had said it, how fierce it had sounded, that made Stiles truly believe him. Derek had always been there for him. He’d get through this. And this time there was no “maybe” about it.

* * *

The next morning, Stiles decided that he was done feeling sorry for himself. Things were actually starting to look brighter and he was more cheerful than he’d been in days. This was all probably thanks to Derek who had a way of making him forget about everything and everyone.

Being with Derek was always a good time. It wasn’t because Derek had the most lively personality; he was a grump the majority of the time. But, he was also always down for Stiles’ shenanigans and that was something not everyone could do.

“Can we pay for these some time today, holy shit!”

They were at Target. When preparing for filming a challenge video, a YouTuber’s first stop was always Target. Their plan for the day was to film two videos for the Sterek channel’s revival. But it wasn’t looking like they’d even get to filming one with how slow Derek was taking at the self-checkout machine.

“I’m having trouble finding the tiny barcodes,” Derek told him, bringing the little tube of chapstick up to his nose to peer at it closer.

“They’re probably all the same price. Just scan one of them 10 times and we’re good to go.”

Derek let out a scandalized gasp. “I can’t do that! They’re different flavors. What if I wanted to return the cherry one and can’t because I scanned grape 10 times? They’d think I stole it.”

“Or, they’d be like any other apathetic teenager retail cashier and not give a shit,” Stiles countered from his seat inside the shopping cart, long limbs all folded up.

“I’m not made of money, you know. If we don’t use all of these, I’ll want to return some.”

“Okay, you may not have as many subscribers as me, but YouTube most definitely pays you enough. Stop being so cheap!”

“They’ve demonetized a ton of my videos for inappropriate content, lately,” Derek argued. “I’m losing money every time I mention the word _‘bisexual._ ’”

“You do mention it a lot.” Stiles hummed. “Out and proud and all that.”

He lifted his arm as much as it could go in the cramped space inside the cart and waved an imaginary bisexual flag. Then he sighed heavily, looking wistfully to the other more quick and efficient checkout lines.

“We should’ve gone to a cashier,” he groaned, knocking his head against the side of the cart.

“It’s been 4 minutes.” Derek rolled his eyes, scanning another tube of chapstick after he finally found the barcode.

“You should never work in retail ever. Roll me closer and let me do it.”

“Okay,” Derek said, grabbing a hold of the cart and rolling him away instead.

“You are such a child!” Stiles now called from several feet away.

“Says the idiot who’s way too old to be sitting in a shopping cart!”

“Roll me back!”

“No!”

“We’ll never get this video done at this rate,” Stiles huffed and crossed his arms over his chest, forced to watch helplessly as Derek took centuries to scan the rest of their items.

Stiles heard laughter coming from behind him and craned his neck to see a hot blonde chick staring at them. Since becoming popular on YouTube all those years back, Stiles had gotten very accustomed to being stared at in public, but it could still be a little awkward at times. He’d already had a couple of fans come up and ask to take pictures with him while he was in the cart. He’d much rather people come up and say hi than stare. So, he waved at the hot blonde chick to make himself feel less awkward and less self-conscious.

“I’m so sorry,” hot blonde chick said, still stifling giggles behind her hand. “My name’s Erica, and you two are very funny. Such a lovely couple.”

Stiles opened his mouth to correct her. Almost everyone got that impression when they went out together. Stiles had always thought people who made those assumptions were _very_ bold. What if he and Derek had been brothers? They’d really be embarrassed then.

And so, he was about to break the news to Erica when she said something next that stilled his tongue.

“I bickered a lot with my late husband. No one believed me that Boyd could be an incredibly annoying shit head. But that’s what I miss the most.” She smiled sadly. “Fighting with him every single day.”

Erica walked over and showed him pictures of Boyd on her phone. She beamed with pride about how handsome he looked in his military uniform. He had been so young when he died and had loved Erica so much. It was a beautiful thing to hear and he hoped to have something like that one day.

With Derek taking a million years at the self-checkout machine, he and Erica were able to chat for a while and exchange numbers. Erica was actually a really cool chick and they got into talking about so many other things that Stiles completely forgot that he hadn’t corrected her about him and Derek.

Not until Derek finally finished ringing up and was walking over to grab him and she whispered, “Don’t ever take it for granted.”

He could’ve corrected her then, but decided not to. It wasn’t necessary. The same advice could apply to friendship. Derek’s friendship was one of the most meaningful to him. He would never lose sight of that.

“Thank you,” he whispered back and smiled as Derek rolled him away.

* * *

“I can walk, Derek.”

“No, you can’t.”

“I was made with legs.”

“Weak ones that take weak steps that never get you anywhere.”

“Still legs!”

Derek grunted and ignored him as he continued up the many flights of stairs with Stiles on his back. The sole elevator in Derek’s building was currently “out of order” and by out of order, Stiles meant currently in use by some animals who had pressed the emergency stop button for an afternoon quickie.

Stiles was convinced Derek was a fucking caveman. He seemed to greatly enjoy picking Stiles up and carrying him around. It was like he had to display his superior strength at all times. All the while, not knowing the effect it had on Stiles and his fantasies.The fucking peacock.

“Why are you being so mean to me today?” Stiles complained with a petulant pout. “I’m going through a breakup. You should be more sensitive of that.”

“Sorry, baby.” Derek pressed a light kiss against the inside of Stiles’ wrist. “You know I like that you’re scrawny.”

They reached the floor for the loft with Derek barely breaking a sweat. Either Derek was extremely physically fit or Stiles weighed the same as a light backpack.

“Well, get down,” Derek said when he exited the stairwell and entered the hallway.

“Weak legs, remember,” Stiles mocked, “How will I ever get inside.”

Derek snickered, not able to see Stiles’ ticked off glare. He shook his head, laughing still, and said, “God, I love you.”

It’d been so long since he’d heard Derek tell him that he loved him. He forgot how warm it made him feel and how it sent his heart racing. Despite the rough exterior, when it came to Stiles, Derek was secretly a mush. Nobody else but Stiles was _“baby”_ to Derek. But, it was all in the name of friendship. He knew not to take it any other way.

They continued down the hall and Derek had Stiles punch in the numbers to the front door since he was holding both Stiles and the Target bags. Sliding open the heavy metal door took a lot more coordination than they’d thought. Thankfully, the hallway was clear so no one could witness their idiocy. At least, not until they finally got the door open and saw two women blinking owlishly at them.

“Oops!” Stiles squeaked, feeling extremely awkward as he slipped off Derek’s back. “Hello, there.”

Being that this was Derek’s loft and Derek was kind of a fuck boy, Stiles’ first assumption could’ve been that these beautiful ladies were here for a _ménage à trois._ However, it was immediately apparent how much the two women looked like Derek that Stiles knew they had to be Derek’s sisters.

Stiles was both intrigued and way too over excited to meet them. Though, Derek did not look as pleased.

“Laura. Cora,” Derek addressed. “What are you guys doing here?”

The one with the dark hair, thick eyebrows, and an eye roll practically identical to Derek’s spoke first, “We watched your Snapchat story and saw that you and Stiles were back together again. So, of course, we came. You know we’re huge Stilinski Stans.”

Stiles watched with fascination as she walked over and dropped a kiss on Derek’s cheek, completely ignoring the irate, grouchy look on Derek’s face. She turned to Stiles next with huge shiny eyes but seemed to have trouble finding the words to speak to him.

“Laura, right? Derek’s big sister?” Stiles guessed, smiling when she nodded. He’d seen this phenomenon many times before but still couldn’t believe that he had the ability to make people starstruck. “And that’s Cora over there?”

“Y-y-yes,” Derek’s younger sister stammered. “Can I give you a hug?”

“Sure,” Stiles laughed and held open his arms, looking over at Derek who, of course, was rolling his eyes. He just had to be a hater.

“Would you two stop being so weird? We’ve got a video to shoot,” Derek grumped, cutting in on their lovefest.

“Oh,” Laura’s interest was peaked. “Is it a Sterek video? What are you guys doing?”

“None of your business.”

“The Chapstick Challenge.”

He and Derek spoke at the same time. Stiles looked over at him with a shit-eating grin and Derek looked about ready to throw a hissy fit.

“Ooo, can we watch,” Cora asked in excitement, clearly missing how weird that would be.

“No!” Derek shouted. That question had tested the very last of Derek’s patience because he was shoving them out the door within seconds. “Get out, now please, before you embarrass yourselves any further.”

Laura and Cora both cried out as Derek wrangled them into the hall and shut the door in their faces. Stiles waved goodbye, feeling a little bad for them, but also finding the whole spectacle hilarious. Why had Derek never told him that his sisters were big fans? Well, he knew why now, obviously. But it still would’ve been fun to know.

“Sorry about that,” Derek blushed, scrubbing a palm over his face.

“They’re really sweet,” Stiles grinned. “Gorgeous, too. Seriously, do you have any ugly people in your family? Anyone at all?”

Derek grunted and avoided the question, getting them right back to business, “We should live stream before we film.”

“Good idea, dude,” Stiles said, pulling his phone out and tapping the icon for Instagram.

The app opened to his timeline, refreshing itself to show him the latest posts. Whatever algorithm Instagram used now put everything in a random, illogical order. Yet, somehow, either by the algorithm or the universe’s doing, the very first post that showed up was a picture of Danny with a new guy.

“That dickwad.”

Stiles jumped, fumbling with the phone, not realizing when Derek had gotten beside him. Derek grabbed the phone out of the air thus saving Stiles’ screen from being shattered. He scowled deeply at the picture, still shaking his head disapprovingly.

“It’s fine, Derek. Really.” Stiles assured and took the phone back from him, looking closely at the picture himself. “He’s allowed to move on. It doesn’t hurt as bad as I thought it would, actually.”

“Probably because he downgraded.” Derek tilted his head and grimaced. “That guy is _ugly_.”

Stiles had to bite his lip to hold back from barking out a laugh. He’d never heard of loyalty distorting a person’s vision so badly before. The guy, whose name was Ethan, Stiles discovered from checking the tag, was very good looking. He was probably more Danny’s type than Stiles had ever been.

So, it was fair to say that Derek’s opinion was completely invalid, but Stiles couldn’t say he didn’t love it when Derek got all protective and growly over him.

“C’mon, Mr. Big and Bad.” Stiles slipped the phone back into his pocket and grabbed Derek’s hand. “We’re burning daylight.”

* * *

For someone so surly, Derek could be incredibly vain. It was why filming the intros to their videos was nothing short of torture. Even though it’d been ages since they’d filmed together, Stiles could never forget this part. Retake after retake after retake, saying the same things over and over again just for Derek to say it wasn’t good and that they needed to film it one more time.

His reasons? His hair looked too spiky. His hair looked too floppy. His face was too shiny. His face was too dull. His stubble didn’t look as full on the one side as it did on the other. God, he _definitely_ should’ve shaved. The list went on and on.

Stiles had to put his foot down because Derek had lost touch with reality. He looked ridiculously perfect. And Stiles being there next to him looking like a ghostly blob just enhanced his handsomeness. Begrudgingly, Derek agreed to continue the video and Stiles would have sifting through a million intro clips to look forward to.

“You know you don’t need to put so much on, right?”

“I’m trying to help you.”

“Yeah, but when it’s my turn, I won’t be as nice.”

Stiles rolled his eyes and stuck the cap back onto the first chapstick flavor and threw it over his shoulder onto the bed. He had several coats of an extremely sweet substance on his mouth, enough to give anyone he was kissing a mouth full of cavities. And it was perfect because he would be kissing Derek who deserved all the cavities for how much he’d been annoying Stiles in the last few minutes alone. He hoped the camera was picking up on their bickering tension because it was what they were best at. The audience loved it, and as much as it drove him crazy, secretly Stiles loved it too.

Winking at the camera, Stiles took the very special opportunity he’d been given to mess with Derek. After all, Derek was blindfolded, so how could he not. The blindfold they were using was excellent because Derek didn’t even so much as twitch as Stiles waved his hands in front of his face and mouthed competitive taunts to the audience. He couldn’t wait for Derek to watch back this footage.

He rubbed his lips together, puckering up as he leaned in closer. He smirked and had a little fun, purposefully avoiding Derek’s mouth until Derek pushed forward and captured his lips. The surprised moan Stiles let out when Derek completely sucked up his bottom lip was both super hot and embarrassing. Tingles shot all over his body; his senses singed.

The first few thoughts that came to Stiles’ brain mainly included the eloquent statements: “Fuck!” “Holy Shit!” and “How could they have ever thought this was platonic?!”

Derek released Stiles’ bottom lip from his teeth and pulled away, tapping at his chin in contemplation. He ran his tongue over his own lips once more, chasing the flavor, then declared, “Aha! It’s blueberry.”

He tore off the blindfold and looked at Stiles expectantly, his lashes fluttering due to the light.

“You are correct.” Stiles swallowed, looking away, his entire body still under the effect of the kiss.

Fuck, they were going to have to do it again. _Multiple times._ At least for as many of the chapsticks as they’d bought. To his credit, Derek didn’t look at all affected. He was a professional, unlike Stiles who’d popped a boner just from one kiss.

It was Stiles’ turn to wear the blindfold now. He took it from Derek with incredibly shaky hands, and they both also wiped their mouths to remove the old flavor. Stiles listened to the sounds as Derek rifled through the bag to pick out a new flavor. His heart was pumping in his chest, and he squeezed his eyes shut even though they were already blindfolded, hoping that more exposure would make it less intense.

But he was wrong. _So wrong._ Kissing Derek again only made him want more. _So much more._ The feeling of his stubble, his breath ghosting against Stiles’ lips, hand coming up to cup the back of Stiles’ neck had him losing his mind. There was a tiny voice inside his head screaming that he shouldn’t be enjoying this so much. That he had a task to do that he was ignoring. But he didn’t a shit. Not even a little bit.

Derek pulled away and Stiles had to bite down from making a frustrated noise because the kiss had ended.

“Stiles, are you focusing on figuring out the flavor,” Derek asked. “You should be focusing.

“Sorry.” Stiles desperately needed to pull himself together. “Let’s try that again.”

They did and this time Stiles didn’t let it get too out of hand. In fact, he was the one to pull away this time thanks to a little thing called self-control. “Coca-Cola,” he gasped, his chest rising and falling. “It’s Coca-Cola.”

“Yup, that’s right,” Derek chuckled, taking the blindfold off for Stiles.

“So, one point for you. One point for me,” Stiles noted. “Onto the next one.”

“You okay?” Derek asked as he tied the blindfold back over his eyes. “You seem a little out of it.”

“I’m fine,” Stiles said, but certainly showed otherwise when he dropped the entire bag of chapsticks all over the floor.

“Right,” Derek snickered, “Doing just fine.”

“Shut up, would you,” Stiles told him, not bothering to pick up all the chapsticks from the floor. Just the one he’d be using as the new flavor.

He rubbed the chapstick against his lips but looked hesitantly at Derek. He knew he could always just stop the video and say he didn’t want to do it anymore. They could come up with something else like the “Couple’s Yoga Pose Challenge” or the “Touch My Body Challenge.” But that would mean he would have to stop kissing Derek and that wasn’t what he wanted at all.

He loved the taste and feel of Derek’s mouth, but also didn’t want to make a fool of himself. Though, he both looked and felt kind of stupid pecking Derek on the mouth like a wild chicken.

“What the hell was that?” Derek hooted, laughing his ass off. “How am I supposed to get anything out of that?”

He was right. No way would he be able to taste the flavor from such an innocent kiss. Stiles tried again; this time telling himself that he wasn’t going to get sucked in. And it worked for a little while. That is until Derek decided to stick his tongue in Stiles’ mouth.

Tongues most definitely did not need to be involved for Derek to guess the correct flavor. It was a completely unnecessary addition, and yet, also a wholly necessary addition. The video was already going to get demonetized because it was two guys kissing, but now that it was two guys _french_ kissing, YouTube would undoubtedly take the whole video down.

Stiles was grateful when Derek pulled away, giving them both a second to breathe. Derek took the blindfold off and rolled his eyes, saying, “That one was definitely bubblegum. This is too easy.”

“Right…” Stiles said absently, having forgotten about the challenge for a moment. Seriously, how could he forget about the challenge?! “Too easy...”

At this point, Stiles’ lips must’ve been red and swollen from all the kissing and chapstick applications. For the first time, Stiles thought about how he must look on camera. Properly debauched, he would have to guess. The audience would never buy that they were just friends now.

It was Stiles’ turn to slip on the blindfold again, and he waited very patiently as Derek rummaged through all the chapsticks that were laid out on the floor.

“Hold on. I’m trying to find a really hard one.”

The rummaging sounds returned. Stiles normally could not tolerate when people took forever to do things. But he didn’t want to come off as too eager, so he suppressed the urge to be snarky. At last, Derek picked his choice and Stiles heard him uncapping the tube. For as long as that ridiculous process had been, it only took seconds for him to feel Derek’s hands back on his face and then his lips.

The kissing went on maybe a little bit too long before Stiles realized he couldn’t place the flavor.

“I don’t taste anything.”

“Then I’ll put some more on.”

They kissed again, Stiles still trying to figure out the flavor. He didn’t taste anything that was too sugary or tangy, which meant Derek must’ve succeeded in finding a really difficult one. He felt Derek’s hands drop to his hips and shuddered when he pulled him even closer until Stiles was practically sitting in his lap. Which was something fake online boyfriends _so_ didn’t do.

Stiles squawked and flailed and clumsily fell off of Derek’s lap. He couldn’t see anything with the blindfold on, so he ripped it off. He tried to play it cool but his face was getting hot. “I don’t— Um. I don’t taste anything.”

“Huh, that’s strange,” Derek smirked, looking down at the tube of chapstick in his hand. “Probably because I forgot to put anything on.”

“You’re an asshole!” Stiles pinched Derek who looked pleased with himself. “Ugh, maybe we should’ve researched a better way to do this because—”

The rest of what Stiles was going to say got muffled up in a kiss. And not just a kiss that was meant for the purpose of the video. But a _real_ kiss that came with a plethora of naughty intentions.

“Oh, so we’re doing this,” Stiles uttered as Derek pushed him back on the bed. “We’re like actually doing this.”

He didn’t get an immediate response but assumed the answer was yes once they started tearing off each other’s clothes. Derek’s hands and mouth were everywhere and Stiles couldn’t get enough of it. He usually didn’t do this type of thing without talking about it first, but neither of them seemed really in the mood to talk. Besides, who did he trust more than Derek, anyway?

“Wait,” Stiles moaned, talking between feverish kisses. “Turn the camera off.”

“Why?

Stiles looked at him incredulously. “Because we’re content creator’s for Youtube, not Xtube!”

“Oh, right,” Derek remembered belatedly.

He jumped up and made a dash for the camera but stubbed his toe on one of the legs of the bed. Which must’ve really hurt judging by how Derek was hopping around in pain. Ever the hero, Derek continued on anyway, hobbling over to the camera and turning it and their other equipment off.

Derek’s eagerness was pretty damn adorable and Stiles couldn’t stop smiling. But poor Derek stubbed his toe _again_ in his haste to get back to Stiles and he was once again hobbling around in pain. Stiles truly felt awful for him but also had a good of how to make him feel better.

He had already shed the rest of his clothes off while Derek wasn’t looking and laid himself out completely exposed on the bed. Closing his eyes, he slid his hands down his body to touch himself, his cock, by then, was impressively hard and drooling. Just the feeling of his hand wrapped around himself gave him so much relief that he let out a filthy moan that, he was sure, instantly got Derek’s attention.

He continued stroking himself, his hips arching up with every slow, languid pump. To his own ears, all his moans and whines sounded cringey but when he opened his eyes and saw Derek’s hungry, predatory gaze, he knew someone appreciated them. He was desperate for Derek to join him, though Derek seemed to be really enjoying the show, his own cock freed from his jeans.

Stiles released a high and needy whine that pushed Derek forward. He knelt on the bed with a smirk, stilling Stiles’ hand and lifting it to lick a strip across Stiles’ palm. Then he wrapped Stiles’ hand around his cock, groaning when Stiles began to move it up and down.

Like everything else on Derek’s body, Derek’s cock was absolutely beautiful. Stiles took his time exploring it and discovering what it liked, while Derek’s hand did the same to Stiles’ cock. Taking both their hands away then and ignoring Stiles’ frustrated whines, Derek slotted their hips together and trapped their cocks between them. His mouth crashed down onto Stiles’ and he calculatedly rolled his hips, cause Stiles to gasp out his name as their cocks began rutting together.

Stiles could feel himself getting close, and from Derek’s rough breathing, could tell that he was too. He wrapped his legs around Derek’s waist, nails digging into his back, quickly being driven insane by the silky feel of their cocks rubbing against each other. And when he couldn’t hold back anymore, he cried out Derek’s name and spilled between them, Derek finishing almost immediately after.

And even though it was the middle of the afternoon and they didn’t have a video for the Sterek Channel (because there was no way they could ever post _that!_ ), they wound up taking a nap. In the morning, there’d probably be regret and a very awkward conversation would have to take place. But for right now, Stiles had never been more content.

* * *

It was morning and, as predicted, there were regrets. _So many regrets_. Stiles’ eyes popped open on their own at about 5 o'clock in the morning. Derek’s heavy arm was slung across his torso, holding Stiles snug to his very warm and very naked body.

Stiles being Stiles could already feel the panic attack coming on. Keeping his fingers crossed that Derek wouldn’t wake up, Stiles carefully maneuvered his way out of Derek’s tight hold. His body was singing all the songs of a great night, feeling every ache as he stood up. The memory of him begging Derek to fuck him last night flashed into his head and he winced, so embarrassed.

He didn’t bother finding clothes, just grabbed his phone and wrapped the covers around himself as he fled down the stairs. He greatly needed fresh air so he stepped out onto the balcony, the sun just starting to rise. He pressed the phone to his ear and prayed that someone would pick up, crying out when they finally did.

“Don’t hang up!”

“It’s 5 o’clock in the morning, Stiles,” Scott’s groggy voice whined through the line.

“I know, but I’m—” Stiles looked back through the balcony doors to make sure that Derek hadn’t woken up then lowered his voice, hissing, “I am _freaking out!_ ”

“Oh.” There were the sounds of sheets rustling and Lydia’s soft murmurs, before a more awake Scott said, “What’s up, dude?”

Stiles had met Scott 6 years ago at a Youtube Convention. Though, Stiles had always felt like he’d known Scott his entire life. They were brothers, and basically the same person when it came down to everything they were interested in. Before he moved to New York from Los Angeles to be with Danny, Scott had been his roommate and had talked Stiles through many, many panic attacks to the point where he’d become a pro. He’d know just what to do now.

Taking in a long, deep breath, Stiles confessed, “I slept with Derek.”

“Nice!”

“No, not nice! Really not nice!”

“It wasn’t good?” Scott asked, sounding a little disappointed. He, too, had always been a Sterek shipper.

“What! No, it was amazing! Like best sex ever!”

“Well, congratulations. I’m very happy for you. Can I go back to sleep now?”

“No, that wasn’t the point!” Stiles slapped a hand over his face. He was such a mess right now.

“Then what is the point?” Scott asked.

“The point!” His breathing was becoming erratic. “The point is that _I_ slept with _Derek!_ _I_ had phenomenal sex with _Derek!_ And now _I’ve_ completely fucked everything up. I’ve ruined our friendship. It’s over. Things we’ll never be the same after this.”

He sank to the floor and pressed his face into his knees. He was so upset. Last night, had been something he’d wanted and thought about for a long time. And now that it’d happened, he wanted more. What if Derek didn’t want the same? It had only taken him about a week and a half to get over Danny. But for Derek, it would take so much longer.

“Hey, Stiles,” Lydia’s sleepy voice came through the phone. “It’s Lydia. Can you please walk me through how you leaped to that conclusion?”

Lydia was Scott’s very smart and very beautiful fiancée. She was a YouTuber too and was both a beauty guru and social activist on her channel. Being that she was about to marry his best friend, Lydia had also become his best friend by association. The two of them had become very close and she was just as good as Scott, if not better, at diffusing Stiles when he got like this

Stiles huffed, not sure if there was a way he could explain this for anyone to understand, but he would give it a try anyway.

“Our whole dynamic is that we’re online boyfriends. Sure, we kiss and stuff but there’s not supposed to be feelings there. We were just supposed to be filming the Chapstick Challenge and I don’t know how I let myself get so carried away. Well, I do know because…I mean you’ve seen Derek.”

“Yeah. He’s hot. We get you,” Scott acknowledged.

“I just ended things with Danny and I _reek_ of desperation,” Stiles continued. “What if he thinks he’s a rebound? He means too much to me to think that. What if I say something completely insensitive and stick my foot in my mouth like I always do and make this situation more messed up than it already is.”

“Stiles,” Lydia began. “You’ve always had feelings for Derek, right? Ever since you two met.”

“Yeah,” Stiles replied.

“And last night, did he seem to be...enjoying himself?”

“Yeah.”

“Then can we assume that he might have feelings for you too?”

“Maybe,” Stiles mumbled.

“Well, then you should probably ask him about that.”

“When?” Stiles asked.

“Now!” Lydia shouted. “Right now! Before this becomes unnecessarily complicated. You’re both idiots. Your tiny brains can’t handle it.”

“He’s so perfect,” Stiles sighed.

“We know,” Scott expressed.

“What if he breaks my heart?” Stiles asked grimly. “What if he wakes up and realizes there are better people out there that he’s missing out on by being with me?”

“Stop right there, Stiles.” Lydia cut in. “Derek isn’t Danny. What if it does work? What if he really makes you happy?”

“You deserve to be happy, Stiles,” Scott contributed. “Don’t screw it up by thinking so negatively.”

They were right of course. It was why Stiles had called them. He’d needed someone to call him out on what he already knew and keep him from sabotaging himself at every turn.

“You guys know you’re couple goals right?” Stiles commented.

Scott chuckled. “Yeah, the internet tells us that more than enough.”

“Thank you, guys,” Stiles said sincerely.

“Anytime, bro,” Scott returned.

“You got this, Stiles,” Lydia assured. “Don’t be a dumbass.”

Stiles was feeling a lot more at ease when he got off the phone. He took a few deep breaths of crisp morning air then headed back inside. He made sure to be as quiet as possible, shutting the balcony door behind him ever so gently and moving on his tiptoes.

The plan was to crawl back into bed and pretend like he never woke up. It would’ve been a very successful plan too for how stealthy Stiles was being. But just as Stiles was creeping towards the spiral staircase, he heard an “Ahem” come from the kitchen

“Done freaking out?”

Stiles cursed and froze in his step, knowing he’d been caught. Slowly, he swiveled around to face Derek who was standing in the kitchen buck naked and sipping from a coffee mug. He didn’t seem annoyed or pissed off though that Stiles had taken off, instead offering a warm smile and holding out a second cup of coffee.

Stiles scuttled over to him, the bedsheet trailing behind him like a wedding dress train, and accepted the cup of hot coffee. He took a long sip from the mug, mouth quirking. “How’d you know?”

“You stole the covers.”

Stiles looked down at the sheets wrapped around him, kicking himself. He failed majorly at being sneaky.

“Figured you snuck out to call Scott and Lydia and have them talk you down.” He peered at Stiles closely. “Everything all good?”

Stiles, nodded, blushing.

Derek set his cup down and inched towards Stiles. “Mmm,” he hummed, dropping a light kiss onto Stiles’ neck. “You look delicious in the morning.”

He didn’t, really. He was pretty sure he could win the award for having the worst bed head ever. Not to mention all the sleep lines and wrinkles from his pillow. He was definitely a hideous beast in the morning. But that didn’t hamper his flushing pleasantly at Derek’s compliment.

“Hungry?” Derek asked next, planting a kiss on Stiles’ lips.

“Yeah,” Stiles said, eyes moving downward. He’d been struggling to be good and keep his eyes above Derek’s waist, but it was so much easier to give in. He brought his eyes back up to meet Derek’s and smirked. “Just not for breakfast.”

Later, when they were sweaty and sated on the couch, Stiles remembered his conversation with Scott and Lydia. Honestly, he still dreaded having to have this talk with Derek. He’d much rather be enjoying their vibe now. On the other hand, he didn’t want things to get too complicated and confusing. Deep down he wanted to know how Derek felt too.

“Hey, Derek,” Stiles said, too chicken to lift his head from where it rested on Derek’s chest. “This isn’t just a one-time thing, is it?”

“Technically it’s a three-time thing but if you give me a little time, I can make it four.”

Stiles chuckled. “No, not the orgasms. I have...feelings... for you.”

“I know.”

“Like romantic feelings.”

“Yes, I am aware.”

“And I know it’s kind of soon after my break-up but I’ve always wanted to give this a try. You and me. It’s just never been the right time. But I think it’s perfect now.”

Derek opened his mouth to speak again but, before he could say anything, Stiles cut him off.

“If you say I know one more time instead of adding something of actual substance to the conversation, I just might kill you.”

Derek threw his head back and laughed, grinning as he kissed a very grouchy Stiles repeatedly on the lips. “Fuck, you’re cute when you’re threatening me, baby.”

Stiles kind of wanted to punch him.

Derek still laughed, shaking his head. “I love you so much, Stiles. You know that.”

“But…” Stiles looked down, feeling his heart sink.

“But nothing,” Derek stated. “If you want to do this relationship thing for real, Stiles, I’m beyond ecstatic. This has always felt natural to me. I couldn’t be happier with the outcome.”

“Yeah?”

Stiles kind of wanted to kiss him.

“Yes, Stiles,” Derek said and took hold of his chin to look him in the eye. “I want this. You and me.”

Stiles bit his lip, fighting back the goofiest smile. “We can never tell our followers.”

Derek furrowed his brows. “Why not?”

“It’s bad for our brand! The Sterek channel isn’t interesting anymore if we’re _actually_ dating.”

Stiles would rather discontinue the Sterek channel than let it turn into one of those nauseating, generic YouTube couple channels. He didn’t want to be forced to do pranks and relationship Q&A’s. Stiles shared a lot of himself with his fans, but he would not share Derek or their relationship for views. Therefore, the only solution was that the Sterek channel would have to die.

“Let’s not talk about business in bed, ‘kay,” Derek said, nibbling on Stiles’ ear.

“Technically, this is a couch.”

Derek rolled his eyes. “You just _love_ being contradictory.”

“I _love_ you.” Stiles retorted and grabbed him, kissing him thoroughly until they were both left panting.

“You’re right.” Derek grimaced. “It is bad for our brand.”

“I know!” Stiles threw his arms up. “So, so bad.”

“I could always do an expose video reading you to filth,” Derek proposed.

Stiles gasped because that was _genius_. “The title will be ‘He Was Just Using Me For Views’”

“The drama channels will eat that right up,” Derek raised.

Stiles grinned mischievously. “This is the beginning of a long, long beautiful social media feud, my friend.”

**Author's Note:**

> subscribe to my [ao3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/jadore_hale/profile) for more of my fics! follow my [tumblr](http://jadorehale.tumblr.com/) or my [twitter](http://twitter.com/jadore_hale/) for explicit post about porn and pizza. (this is totally false advertising)
> 
> \---------
> 
> (Fest Mod Note: this work was created for the 2018 Sterek Smooch Fest. Please follow the fest on [LJ](https://sterek-smooch.livejournal.com/) and [TUMBLR](https://sterek-smooch.tumblr.com/) to see the rest of the fabulous creations! Thank you!)


End file.
